By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Asserting that media has presented a distorted picture of its relations with Iran, India has warned against letting the Iran situation escalate into a “disastrous” conflict and urged peaceful resolution of the issue through diplomacy.
“India’s relationship with Iran is neither inconsistent with non-proliferation objectives, nor do we seek to contradict the relationships we have with our friends in West Asia or with the United States and Europe,” the Indian Embassy asserted here Tuesday.
Suggesting that several recent media stories about India’s import of Iranian crude oil presented a distorted picture to generate concerns in the US, including among some lawmakers, the mission sought to clarify New Delhi’s position and policy towards Iran.
“India has consistently said that Iran must cooperate with the IAEA to address and resolve all outstanding issues about its nuclear program, issues that continue to raise understandable doubts in the minds of the international community,” the embassy said.
“India believes that while Iran has rights to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, it must simultaneously and rigorously fulfil the treaty obligations which it has acceded to,” it said.
“Our stand in this regard has been, and remains, consistent, well-enunciated including in the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and perfectly clear.”
“India has scrupulously adhered to the multilateral sanctions against Iran as mandated by the United Nations, and remains fully engaged with the United States Administration and Congress on this issue,” the embassy noted.
“Given the imperative of meeting the energy needs of millions of Indians, an automatic replacement of all Iranian oil imports, is not a simple matter of selection, or a realistic option,” it said.
“As a responsible member of the international community, India takes its obligations most seriously,” the embassy said. “At the same time, it firmly believes that the situation concerning Iran should not be allowed to escalate into a conflict, the disastrous consequences of which will be in nobody’s interest.”
“As a country that has six million of its nationals in the Gulf region, India is naturally concerned and urges all its partners to give diplomacy a fair chance to seek a peaceful resolution of the issues involved,” it said.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])